The Sound of the Deep Ground
by Amledo
Summary: While on the journey, Bilbo becomes increasingly annoyed that the Dwarves seem to ignore him or talk like he isn't there. What he doesn't know is that he shouldn't be able to hear them and that his strange attraction to Thorin has something to do with it. Contains Thilbo and Fili/Kili
1. Chapter 1

(A/N: So, I know that I have a whole bunch of other stories that I should be working on, because I have left them for a long time…but I haven't had inspiration for them. Instead, I present you this, my first foray into Hobbit fiction. I don't own anything and I never ever will, so let us just keep that in mind. Now, I know that some of you don't like the pairings in the fandom, but I do. So this one is Bilbo/Thorin and Kili/Fili. It isn't obvious, and there is nothing graphic, but it is there, and I won't be criticized. On with the show!)

The Sound of the Deep Ground

Bilbo Baggins was regretting that he had left his safe, warm, dry Hobbit hole for the umpteenth time that day. Past the sores he got from the saddle, the aching pit in his stomach, and the cold that bit into his skin, he hated the way the Dwarves spoke of him as though he were not around. They didn't do it all the time, no, they were typically much nicer to him than he had expected. Just once in a while, he would hear them begin to speak, and know that he was not appreciated. This was one such morning.

"I still do not trust the Hobbit," Thorin spoke, gruff as usual, his dark eyes trained on his eldest heir. Bilbo felt ire and resentment stir in his chest and pushed his pony a little closer so that they might see him and abort the conversation.

"You do not trust easily Uncle, but Bilbo is worthy," Fili responded, he glanced at Bilbo and spared him a smile. It warmed the Hobbit's heart and confused him all at once. Was he not supposed to acknowledge that he was being talked about so openly? Regardless of Fili defending him, shouldn't the other Dwarf point out that Bilbo was within earshot?

"He has yet to prove anything of the sort. For all you know of him he could be plotting to steal the Heart of the Mountain away and present it to those Elves that he seems so enamored with," Thorin spat, eyes cold. Fili cocked his head and frowned deeply. Before he could respond Kili leaned in and gripped his thigh, subtle warning in his eyes. The pair had always seemed strange to Bilbo, too close for brothers grown, and yet they were not strange to the other members of the party.

Instead of speaking, giving voice to his outrage, Bilbo allowed his pony to slow once again, his mind in other places. Fili and Kili dropped back as well, their hands joined across the distance once they were at the back of the group. They noticed Bilbo behind them, but seemed to ignore him at the same time, leaving the Hobbit to sit in confused silence once again.

"Uncle is weary brother, for now I think it best if we avoid speaking of the burglar to him," Kili said gently, thumb swiping across Fili's knuckles.

"It is not my fault that he cannot recognize his own feelings. He claims distrust when it is petty jealousy. If Bilbo were as taken with our Uncle as he is with Elves, there would be no question of trust," Fili said as he tugged Kili closer, their ponies not seeming to be bothered by the proximity.

"You…you believe that Bilbo…he is Uncle's…"

"I do. I have said as much to Gandalf and he agrees with me. Uncle's bullheaded ways will hurt us all in the end. Mother always said that those who do not learn to love will lose their hearts to gold. I fear that we will retake our home at the cost of our family," Fili confided and Bilbo felt his head spin. He wasn't sure what he had been hearing before, but now that he was, it terrified him. It didn't bother him that neither Fili nor Kili had acknowledged his presence for their conversation, he was beyond that. At that moment, he truly needed to speak to Gandalf.

Unfortunately the Wizard was nowhere to be found. Odd how he conveniently vanished when Bilbo felt that he was most needed.

That night, with Gandalf still not around, Bilbo decided to take matters into his own hands. If Thorin did not like him because he seemed too interested in Elves, then he would ask the questions that had been burning away at him since the Dwarves had taken over his home. After all, he had only avoided asking in the first place because Thorin had seemed so unapproachable.

"Yes Burglar?" Thorin asked almost as soon as Bilbo sat near him. The Hobbit swallowed and attempted to calm himself, otherwise Thorin's attitude would have sent him into another fluster. It was well enough that he had managed not to blush, what with the understanding of who he was to Thorin.

"I was hoping…maybe I am a fool for asking. But I was hoping that you might tell me some more of your history? Of the Lonely Mountain before Smaug," Bilbo whispered and watched Thorin's face shift from a mask of disapproval to one of soft contemplation. Part of him was relieved to see the Dwarf King's face go soft; it made the inexplicable attraction that Bilbo had felt for him a little more understandable. Hobbits were not like Dwarves, they did not love only once, and yet, Bilbo was left with the crushing sense that Thorin would always be the only one for him.

"Do you truly care to know?" Thorin asked, for once looking at Bilbo with kindness and something akin to friendship. Bilbo smiled brightly and nodded eagerly, feeling much like his childhood self. Only he wasn't sitting at the feet of his father or mother, he was sitting beside a Dwarf that had stolen his heart.

"I have wanted to ask for ages," Bilbo admitted and moved to sit closer to Thorin when he was invited.

The Dwarf Lord spoke quietly and softly for hours, telling Bilbo of anything that he cared to know. The world that he spoke of was one that Bilbo found he wouldn't mind calling home. He spoke so long that eventually Bilbo drifted to sleep beneath the arm that had tucked itself around him during the night. No one disturbed them until morning when Gandalf made his way back into their camp.

Bilbo blinked sleep from his eyes and snuggled closer to the warm chest that he was being held against. If Thorin was bothered by this, he said nothing, merely pressing Bilbo closer and drawing his cloak more firmly about the two of them to chase away the morning chill.

"For someone who claims not to trust the Hobbit, you are awfully comfortable with him Uncle," Kili said as they broke camp. Bilbo was still snuggled next to Thorin's side, the Dwarf Lord seemingly intent on remaining just where he was until his Hobbit companion was ready to move.

"I have altered my opinion of our Burglar. It is not your place to wonder about it," Thorin responded, though his voice was less harsh than it had been in days. Kili smiled crookedly and allowed Fili to catch him around the waist in a hug.

"So you admit that you like him. Bilbo is your Kili," Fili said, his face also split with a smile. Bilbo felt his hackles rise once again at being spoken of like he wasn't around, but was entirely disarmed when Kili placed a soft kiss on Fili's lips. Wait…that was what they had meant?

"He is still a Hobbit Fili, I cannot ask that of him," Thorin replied and Bilbo sat up, pulling away from the Dwarf Lord as he did so.

"Would you all just stop that? I am right here! I can hear you just fine! And I will have you know, Thorin Oakenshield, that you can ask anything of me that you please and I will gladly give it," Bilbo said fiercely, his arms crossed over his chest, defiance written on his features. The camp went abruptly silent.

"You…could hear us?" was all that Thorin managed to say at first, bemusement obvious on his face. Bilbo frowned; he wasn't going to be taken in by some joke.

"Of course I can hear you? Do you think me deaf?" Bilbo demanded, only to squeak when he was drawn into Thorin's arms and hugged tightly. He breathed in the scent of Thorin's skin and clothes and tried desperately to stay angry.

"You are a wonder of wonders Bilbo Baggins. Did you not realize that we were speaking differently? We spoke in voices meant only for our kin," Thorin said, practically tugging Bilbo into his lap as he spoke.

"What do you mean? I thought you were just…talking around me," Bilbo said, returning the hug at last and feeling his heart grow calm. There was nothing that he had wanted more than to be in Thorin's arms from the very moment he had seen the dark haired Dwarf.

"No Bilbo, you can hear the sounds of the Deep Ground, the voice that Dwarves use to speak to one another in their own halls. Neither Elves nor Men can hear us when we use it," Fili said, shock evident in his voice.

"This proves that he was meant for you Uncle," Kili added, his eyes shining brightly. Bilbo wasn't sure that he understood what was going on, but he certainly didn't mind the change of atmosphere.

"You said I could ask anything of you Bilbo Baggins," Thorin whispered and Bilbo nodded, "I ask your heart in trade for my own."

"You've had it since the moment you stepped through my front door," Bilbo said, smiling before Thorin kissed him solidly on the lips. It was like nothing that he had ever felt before, and he knew that it was because he and Thorin were connected.

If Gandalf smiled smugly and walked with an extra bounce in his step that day, no one said a word about it.

(A/N: Was it utterly horrible? I mean, it was my first Hobbit fic, and I would like to write more, but I would like to hear from you first.)


	2. Chapter 2

(A/N: I really didn't think that this one was going to stay with me, but it has and so you folks get a second chapter, in the same night! I know! I never do this. But that is the price of a new muse. This is a continuation of the story that picks up after the story. So post Battle of Five Armies or BoFA as we seem to be calling it. Don't worry! Everybody lives! I couldn't kill them if I wanted to, they are just too freaking awesome.)

The Sound of the Deep Ground

Part 2

Thorin was hurt. Logically, Bilbo knew that he was going to survive his injuries; he had been well tended to by Elven healers. But Bilbo had never had a soul mate before. He had never had a husband before. Thorin was hurt and there was nothing that Bilbo could do save wait and let time do the healing.

"You look worse than Kili, and he's seen his spleen lately," Fili said dryly, his wounded arm in a sling, splinted leg propped up on a ratty pillow or two. Bilbo cut a wry smirk and ran his fingers through his adopted nephew's hair. Kili was still unconscious but resting comfortably next to Fili. The pair likely wouldn't have made it out of the battle alive were it not for the Elves and Bilbo knew that such knowledge chafed at Thorin.

"I happen to be the worrying type. Thorin is sedated. Thranduil is being absolutely no help, ranting on and on about how dismal this place looks. And on top of all that, this place reeks of dead Orc," Bilbo responded, neglecting to comment on his own broken arm and the recently stitched wounds left by Warg claws in his stomach. He did not know how they would have fared if he hadn't been able to keep Thorin from the Gold Sickness.

"Worrying doesn't do anyone a bit of good. You are a hero of this battle Bilbo. You have Uncle's heart, and are Consort Under the Mountain. You don't have to worry anymore," Fili whispered, his good arm slung around so that he could stroke Kili's face. There was a quiet admiration in Fili's eyes that Bilbo had begun to recognize in Thorin's and he wondered at the devotion of Dwarves. It was true that they loved only once. He could see that easily. What he didn't know was how they dealt with the loss of the one that they loved. What did the loss of a soul mate do to someone? He shuddered to think of it at all.

"There are some things to be worried about. Don't you doubt that my good Dwarf. I have to go back to the Shire still. Which Thorin has forbidden me to do alone," Bilbo smiled and leaned back against the headboard of the overlarge bed that they were all sharing. "I am going to be the talk of Hobbiton. The Sackville-Baggins will be chomping at the bit to have a go of Bag End. I need to tie up loose ends, there's apparently a nephew that needs looking after and I don't even know where to begin," Bilbo said, motioning to the stack of letters that Gandalf had brought him. He would never know when or how the Wizard had managed to get back to the Shire, and he wasn't about to ask. There wasn't a point really; he would just get some cryptic answer about Wizard business, a chuckle, and a twinkling of kind eyes.

"That is true. But you can't blame Uncle for being protective. He thought that he would lose you," Fili said, his eyes sad as he looked across to Thorin's sleeping form. The King Under the Mountain was bandaged in many places, and he would likely use a cane for the rest of his days, due to the bite a Warg had taken from his leg. Bilbo sighed and pushed Thorin's mop of hair away, looking down at the Dwarf that he loved and thanking all of the Gods that he was still alive.

"He very nearly did. If I hadn't had that ring…I would have been done for. And now it is bound for Mount Doom…strange how I wished that I had never let it go," Bilbo responded, smoothing his hand over the pocket that the ring had once rested in.

"That is what cursed rings do, my dear Hobbit," Gandalf's voice was tired and he was covered in blood as he entered the room. Bilbo knew that the Wizard had been lending his abilities to the Elven healers and that it had been a long day for all involved. How there had even been time for the truth of the ring to be divined and a plan put into action, he would never know. It was for the best though, if it truly was the ring that had belonged to the Necromancer called Sauron, then Bilbo wanted nothing to do with it in the least. He was glad to have handed it away.

"Gandalf," Bilbo acknowledged, not sure what he was supposed to say but feeling chastised all the same.

"Good to see that some of you are awake. Lord Elrond of Rivendell sends word that he will be most happy to have the King and Consort Under the Mountain as guests in his home, should you need to return to the Shire. He also informed me that a Ranger by the name of Strider will be accompanying your ring to its end," the Wizard said, his hand held flat as it hovered over Thorin's head.

"I thought you said that humans were susceptible to its grasp," Bilbo said, confused but relieved when Gandalf gave a satisfied nod at whatever reading he had gotten from Thorin. The Wizard was silent as he moved over to perform the same inspection on Kili. Again he seemed satisfied.

"This human is rather different I should think," Gandalf replied at last, sitting with a heavy sigh on a chest near the bed. He rested his staff against his shoulder and clasped his hands between his knees. If Bilbo were telling the truth, he would say that the Wizard looked bone weary, and very much older than he had ever seen. But he couldn't bring himself to think it, let alone say it, when Gandalf had done so much for them.

"As long as it is seen to, I don't care who handles the matter. I don't think that any of us have another battle in us just yet," Fili said, smiling brightly as Kili began to wake up. Thorin was stirring beside Bilbo as well and the Hobbit was suspicious that Gandalf had had something to do with the seeming coincidence. Not that he bothered to think on it for very long when Thorin was reaching out to him.

"You are well?" the Dwarf King asked, his hand cradling the side of Bilbo's face. It was perhaps the only thing that could have done it, but the Hobbit found himself crying uncontrollably and ignoring his own injuries to kiss Thorin properly. He didn't care what they had been through, what could have been, and what was, he only cared for the fact that Thorin was alive and loved him still.

"Yes my love, I am well. As well as can be expected anyway. How do you feel?" Bilbo asked once he had managed to stop peppering Thorin's face with gentle kisses and snuggling into the warmth of his larger body.

"I feel awful. But I will live. Did I not have you, I am not so sure that such would be the case," Thorin said and Bilbo tried to smile. He didn't want to think of Thorin being dead, and if keeping his lover alive meant keeping himself alive, then that was what he would do. The reunion of Fili and Kili beside them was going much the same way and Gandalf was watching quietly, a small smile playing across his face. Bilbo was forced to wonder if Wizards ever loved, if someone who had been around for as long as Gandalf had ever had a lover, and if so, could he even remember them? For his part, he knew that he would be unable to deal with such a loss for a decade, much less several millennia.

"I love you Thorin Oakenshield, and I will have no more of you fighting Orcs. Do you hear me," Bilbo said at last, when he felt that his heart would stop and his tears would go on endlessly. There was nothing for it, he was a Hobbit that had gone and fallen in love with a Dwarf, and that was just how things were going to have to stay.

"I love you as well, Bilbo Baggins. Try to rest, we must plan for our trip to the Shire when we are well," Thorin said, nudging Bilbo until he was lying down, tangled in Thorin's arms. The Dwarf King began to sing quietly in what Bilbo had begun to recognize as the special tone that only Dwarves were supposed to be able to hear. Gandalf would hear nothing of the song that Thorin used to lull Bilbo and their two nephews into a gentle slumber, but the Wizard didn't truly seem to mind.

(A/N: So there it is. Chapter 2. I don't know if I should do more or not. I have ideas of course. But I also know that I have other Hobbit fic ideas, and other stories in different fandoms that I really need to work on. I am so conflicted. Oh well. Leave me a review to let me know what you thought.)


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